Chapter 168

You actually aren't that surprised by that negative energy, right?

Well, my field of study is actually related to this as well.

I guess you're actually quite familiar with it? Even witnessed its birth?

You guessed right, but this isn't the same entity," "What?!"

The silver-haired woman momentarily lost focus, causing the container in her hand to tilt; at that moment, the quickest to react was the black-haired girl who had answered the question, seizing the tea cup's balance with a speed and precision the youth couldn't even glimpse in an instant.

Not a drop spilled, as the delicate, pale hand that at first glance seemed lacking in labor was steadily placed on the table.

"…Be careful, Pipa Chen Guang senior." Dazhenhan reminded, a faint smile played on the lips.

Still that equipment room, only its location shifted from a corner to the maintenance room inside the partition, changing from an open view of the mountain to a meeting for investigation.

Pipa Chen Guang seemed to be awakened by this formal atmosphere into some state, she walked very familiarly to the water dispenser and cup area, and even took out tea leaves to start brewing tea.

Such maintenance rooms are especially numerous at Torasen Academy, with specific storage cabinets for the horse girls' personal training items, making it convenient for them to train at any time, so the doors are not locked, sharing part of the pressure of the trainer's room.

Disposable supplies, tea leaves, instant coffee and the like are also regularly replenished.

However, Pipa Chen Guang's self-awareness really makes one suspect she is the old hand who always pours tea in the office.

But given her rather earnest personality, she can't stay idle, nor can she become the 'office tea-person' type of salary thief.

"Sorry…"

"As long as you're not hurt, that's fine; mainly it's the look of Trainer Linton's hands…"

"Almost good enough, just being asked by two overly worried people to hang on for an hour," Aomo tapped the table with the bandaged-wrapped fingers, then took the tea cup pushed over by Dazhenhan, "Thank you."

Facing Dazhenhan, and then also speaking to Pipa Chen Guang, Aomo raised hand to cover the tea cup, and a slight chill mingled with the rising steam.

"Then let's continue the topic, alright?" He looked again at Dazhenhan, seeing her nod, then said, "I guess it's also not your goal; the mental extraction technology of negative energy really has no prospect for exploration, it's mostly just a byproduct of your experiments."

"You understand well."

"I once considered applying to university for this major, but I thought it would be too grueling."

Aomo smiled; this remark also made Dazhenhan chuckle: "Indeed so."

"But I'll be free soon; I can finish my current experiments and reports before summer break, and graduate smoothly in the second half of the school year."

"By then I'll celebrate for you, but could we mention the 'different entity' now?" Aomo said, placing the terminal on the table, openly opening the recording, then gesturing to Pipa Chen Guang, "Miss Chen Guang, could you please bring over the previous data again."

He originally wanted to have the other party lean in, to create some pressure in front of Dazhenhan, but thought that whispering in front of the horse girls would be meaningless.

Moreover, this isn't even an interrogation now; Miss Dazhenhan is fully a party plus an informant witness, the latter being the status earned from the frank conversation just now.

"Different entity…" Dazhenhan rubbed the still-warm tea cup in her hand, looking at the tea leaves inside that were still somewhat half-wrinkled and unfurled.

"A confidential experiment that's inconvenient to explain?" After asking, Aomo turned back as footsteps approached, and took the folder Chen Guang handed over.

"Not exactly; it's just that facing such a past laid out before people brings a bit of shame."

She felt somewhat embarrassed yet smiled openly,

"I fully understand, but please rest assured I have the professional integrity not to mention these matters to others; you probably don't know yet, I am a mercenary and am preparing to set up my own office."

"... A mercenary serving as a trainer is indeed astonishing, especially Trainer Linton, who doesn't look like a retiree."

She glanced at Pipa Chen Guang, who remained calm.

It wasn't that she got the news from her sister; rather, she herself knew Aomo because of the Tianmen Incident, and in that event, Aomo, who was heavily written about, had his mercenary deeds that day become the basis of publicity.

Rather than being surprised that he is a mercenary, Chen Guang is more surprised that he became a trainer—but that was also the case at the beginning.

"Actually, both sides are newcomers, far apart, advancing at a turtle's pace, but that's not the point," after picking up the tea cup and taking a sip, Aomo turned to raise several pages of documents, openly spreading them out as he said, "Actually, regarding that different entity, I have some guesses—for example, a person's growth can have different stages."

He said, scattering those several documents between the two.

Each page of documents has large characters at the top as a title:

【Canaan Racecourse Debut Battle】

【Zhongshan Racecourse Yayoi Prize, Gaoyue Prize】

【Jiemen Racecourse Jidong Derby】

【Constant Racecourse Chrysanthemum Prize】

……

From G2 to G1 races, using the racecourse as the recording division, the red-marked Dazhenhan characters on the paper also stand out clearly.

And seeing her own race data laid out like this, Dazhenhan's reaction was merely helpless: "Looks like I still haven't run fast enough."

"In this long-distance race involving many horse girls, you are far ahead," Aomo's words made Pipa Chen Guang frown, "so please don't get stuck on embarrassment and shame; believe Miss Chen Guang is also capable of keeping secrets."

"Ah…? Uh, of course!" The horse girl who was still thinking froze for a moment upon being suddenly mentioned, but her response wasn't slow either.

"Alright, since you've said that, I occasionally also have dreams unrelated to me."

"As a mental-system ascendant, abnormal dreams are a kind of warning." Aomo said.

This is also considered industry common sense.

Dreams throughout history have had sayings about what they can reveal; if changed to other ascendants' dreams, they might still be as wild as ordinary people's, but the mental-system and fate-system are able to control and adjust.

"Yes, so I believe your words… and what you said is correct——" She finished speaking, lowered her head to look at the several pages of documents on the table, then picked out one page.

【Zhongshan Racecourse Yayoi Prize, Gaoyue Prize】

"That negative energy just now was me during this period."

"Not long after debut, full of vigor, I obtained the G1 eligibility, and moreover reaped the decisive attire immensely important to horse girls, putting it on to welcome the first victory of the classic Triple Crown."

This passage was thought to be self-narration, but actually came from Aomo's mouth; he gazed at the picture on the paper, calmly drinking tea.

The picture shows Dazhenhan standing on the athlete display platform, photographed.

The decisive attire, mainly black and brown, has an overall design exactly like the Emperor Ludaofu Xiangzheng symbol.

The skirt's hem is dotted with rows of yellow triangles, and behind it also bears a purple cloak that fully displays royal bearing.

The girl wearing this outfit inherently possesses a strong domineering aura; as the protagonist of the memory, she resembles not a hero but a demon king, also just like the Ludaofu Xiangzheng symbol of old.

Any Triple Crown champion standing at the forefront has once had a villainous air, and being at the pinnacle of competitive sports is exactly that.

"Capes and skirt hems are symbols of the strong, huh." He suddenly exclaimed a remark that left Pipa Chen Guang baffled.

But at least I could tell it was a compliment, so Dazhenhan gave a wry smile: "But during that period, I actually would have been like that; perhaps it's hard for people to believe."

"There's nothing hard to believe; rather, your record during that period indeed matches my guess."

Loneliness, aloofness, an icy, burning existence and estrangement.

In the days when Dazhenhan first debuted and showed promise, he was similar to Chengtian Bai Ren and Ludaofu Xiangzheng—possessing an oppressive yet effortlessly calm, heaven‑gifted talent.

Just as when comparing people, some are born already at the finish line; when everyone on the Boundary Gate Racecourse is G1‑class, what's at stake isn't just first‑rate, but super‑first‑rate!

Dazhenhan indeed has that kind of advantage; even though she actually lacks fighting spirit, she can still stay ahead, thanks to her flying‑like final kick.

And this acknowledgment, Dazhenhan should have heard it from many people, so even when Aomo, whom she'd just met, said that, she merely replied modestly: "Thanks, Trainer Lin Dun seems quite good at guessing."

"It's merely a guess, actually—I've seen your negative‑energy state like this more than once, but this time it's that frail appearance."

Just as the true nature was revealed.

This let Aomo become more convinced that those two negative‑energy monsters were products of human guidance.

"What place? What appearance?" Dazhenhan finally grew solemn; it was harder to accept than her own out‑of‑control black history running wild—evidently not just one black history was running amok, and it had even been tweaked.

"We'll talk about that later, and I want to switch to another person to discuss with you."

The end‑of‑recording indicator was flashing, so Aomo got up straight away and then looked at Pipa Chen Guang: "Miss Chen Guang, the following content belongs to off‑campus affairs; although it also involves horse girls, it's outside the student council's jurisdiction."

Her solemn, serious expression sufficed to show the gravity of the issue; seeing Aomo say that, Pipa Chen Guang nodded: "... I understand, I'll recuse myself."

She came to repay a favor, but officially it was as a student council investigation; since the negative‑energy humanoids that appeared on campus had already been dealt with by Dazhenhan, all that remained was filing the report.

As for the off‑campus horse‑girl issue, that's not something the student council can handle; it should be reported to the URA Association.

But since Aomo brought it up, indicating he'd been drawn in, considering his mercenary identity—Pipa Chen Guang could also guess a thing or two.

Her logical thinking has never been lacking; back in school she was often praised by her friend Victory Prize Ticket as the famed detective Chen Guang.

I need to go talk to Bai Ren, and also bring Dazhenhan to the student council to explain the campus disturbance.

She had never been to the university department lecture building, hadn't seen the wounds on its walls and floor, and didn't know the bustle inside the department chat room; otherwise she'd realize that the person who should really go to the student council for tea is right in front of her.

Well… missed is missed; the chairman is having Secretary Junchen work overtime to bury this matter.

And after she left, the quiet one‑on‑one talk in the room thus began.

It was Zhouri Ningjing, who had recreated the scene of a ghost film.

This guy happened to also have a post in the URA Association, and after she appeared, Aomo naturally stepped back to the second line.

One side listening to that guy's more interrogation‑like boring chat, the other side tilting her head to play with the terminal.

Like responding to the death‑rattle of an alien's wallet.

Also like checking on the lack of movement from the Edge Runner Agency's follow‑up.

Also like Yanhui Er posting a new update, denouncing that Zhu Lei had kicked the bucket—he'd only just joined a few days prior.

Also like the Penguin Logistics discount coupon arriving on schedule, the moment when demon‑people's hand speed had arrived—he was kicked to the ground by Zhouri Ningjing because his point‑light‑screen speed was too fast, causing too much commotion.

In Dazhenhan's subtle gaze, before he could even shout "you're too despicable!", a new discount coupon appeared and snatched his attention again.

Ke Song really is his Superman.